CHAPTER 5 - Corwin

142

Using DirectTeaching Methods

Not only is there an art in knowing a thing, but also a certain art inteaching it.

—CICERO

CHAPTER 5

I will now engage in a study of actions and skills that produce learning. In this chapter,you will study direct approaches that can be used to organize and present integratedbodies of knowledge for instruction. Direct teaching and exposition approaches toteaching integrated bodies of knowledge provide us with direct instructional alternatives.

Effective questioning patterns have long been associated with good teaching. As such,it is important that prospective teachers recognize and use behavior patterns related to theproductive use of the different levels of questions, as well as the different kinds ofquestions and proven questioning techniques. Thus, in this chapter, I will focus specialattention on questioning and its effective use in the classroom.

After completing your study of Chapter 5, you should be able to do the following:

� Discuss factors that should be considered in selecting teaching techniques and strategies.� Define direct teaching and exposition teaching and discuss the strengths and weaknesses

of the various methods within these teaching strategies.� Describe the direct teaching format and its appropriate uses.� Explain the importance of and techniques for improving the lecture method.� Explain the importance of incorporating different levels and types of questions.� Identify and differentiate between the different categories of questions, as well as the

levels within these categories.� Identify and differentiate between focusing, prompting, and probing questions.� Define wait time 1, wait time 2, halting time, and silent time.� Define and explain the benefits derived from the use of the redirecting technique, wait

times, and halting time.� Identify guidelines that should be followed in effective questioning.

OVERVIEW

OBJECTIVES

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CHAPTER 5 � USING DIRECT TEACHING METHODS 143

Children often need help in learning how to learn. Basically, you will have three types of students inyour classes: students who can learn on their own, students who need some help in learning, andstudents who need a lot of help in learning. Your job will be to provide training to those students whoneed help with the skills needed in building concepts. Thus, your instructional purposes will be tomake information meaningful, to help students develop learning and study skills, and to teach soknowledge can be applied or transferred to other areas.

Successful teachers draw from a variety of strategies (methods and procedures) in accomplishingtheir instructional purposes. Strategies should be selected that best serve the delivery of content andachievement of the purposes and objectives. If strategies are just arbitrarily chosen, then theiremphases are on themselves, rather than on content, purposes, or objectives.

Strategies, then, should be viewed as utilitarian: They achieve the instructional intent. Forexample, if the intent of a social studies lesson is to share views on some controversial issue, it is obvi-ous that the discussion method and applicable procedures should assist in achieving this objective.The lecture method, or simply showing a film, would not support the intent of the lesson.

With all the possible strategies, how do you decide which is best? Experience can often be the bestbasis for selection; however, other factors often must be considered in your selection of strategies:

• What are the students’ needs?• What age are the students?• What are the students’ intellectual abilities?• What are the students’ physical and mental characteristics?• What are the students’ attention spans?• What is the lesson purpose?• What content is to be taught?

You should take such factors into account when you consider teaching strategies and, above all,select those strategies that should best serve the teaching situation.

Some strategies influence students directly, whereas others influence students indirectly; that is,some strategies emphasize focused, teacher-directed instruction, whereas others involve studentsactively in their own learning. Thus, there are two major ways of delivering instruction: directly orindirectly. The direct delivery of instruction (“telling”) is the “traditional” or didactic mode, in whichknowledge is passed on through the teacher, the textbook, or both. The indirect avenue of instruction(“showing”) provides students with access to information and experiences whereby they developknowledge and skills.

The main strength of the direct instructional strategy is that it is efficient, especially in quickly pro-viding information to the students. It is also an effective way to allow students to achieve mastery whenlearning fundamental facts, rules, formulas, or sequences. The direct instructional strategy is not aneffective way to teach higher level thinking, analysis, or evaluation. It cannot be used to teach materialover a long period of time or present additional details to students who have already mastered the basicconcepts. In contrast, the indirect instructional strategy presents students with instructional stimuli inthe form of materials, objects, and events and requires students to go beyond the basic information thatthey are given to make their own conclusions and generalizations. Indirect instruction allows teachers toengage their students in activities that require the students to learn independently. Students take anactive role in their learning by developing ideas, testing their own conclusions, and discussing theirresults. This allows students to independently discover patterns and relationships in their learning andknowledge. Students go beyond the basic problems presented to them, allowing them to developadvanced levels of thinking analysis.

Although instructional strategies can be categorized as direct or indirect, the distinctions are notalways clear-cut. For example, a teacher may provide information through the lecture method (fromthe direct instructional strategy) while using a small-group discussion method to ask students todetermine the significance of information that was presented (from the indirect instruction strategy).

For materialrelated to thisconcept, go to Clip 5.1 onthe StudentResource CDbound into theback of yourtextbook.


144 PART III � DESIGNING INSTRUCTION TO MAXIMIZE STUDENT LEARNING

How much time should be devoted to each of the two modes of instruction? This is a complexquestion. At this point, suffice it to say that the amount of time spent varies, depending on the subject,grade level, students, time, and material available, as well as the philosophy of the teacher and theschool. Experience suggests, however, a compelling relationship between method of instruction andstudent retention, depicted in Table 5.1, in which a blend of “telling” and “showing” techniques resultsin greater retention. Furthermore, varying the strategy can positively affect student motivation tolearn. It is a fortunate situation when you have a choice of equally effective strategies for achievingyour instructional intent. In such instances, it is possible to choose a method and procedure (strategy)that will foster motivation, improve classroom control, or cost less to implement. Indeed, you shouldbecome skilled in combining various strategies into a total lesson package.

Methods of Instruction Recall 3 Hours Later Recall 3 Days Later

Telling when used alone 70 10

Showing when used alone 72 20

Blend of telling and showing 85 65

TA B L E 5.1 Relationship Between Method of Instruction and Retention (in Percentages)

Often, too much classroom learning is rote; that is, it is the memorization of facts or associations,such as math facts, rules of grammar, words in foreign languages, or presidents and vice presidents ofthe United States. Optimal learning takes place when information is made meaningful. Essentially,information must be well organized and tied into an existing cognitive structure. To accomplish thistask, students must be encouraged to think about new material in ways that connect it to informationor ideas already in the students’ minds and to generate their own questions about the material.

The ultimate goal of teaching and learning is to develop students’ ability to apply classroom-acquired information outside the classroom or in different subjects. For example, students should beable to write a letter outside the classroom, and they should be able to use mathematical skills in theirscience class. This ability is referred to as transfer. With transfer, you are trying to develop the abilityto apply knowledge acquired in one situation to new situations. Presumably, students in a Spanishclass will be able to communicate with people who speak Spanish. The likelihood of transfer can beenhanced by making the original learning situation as similar as possible to the situation to whichinformation or skills will be applied. For instance, science should be taught through the use of realis-tic problems from your students’ daily lives. Of course, another means for accomplishing transfer isthrough learning: Students cannot use information they do not thoroughly understand. Finally, simi-larity and thoroughness make it more likely that students will be able to apply newly acquired infor-mation in real-life problem situations.

The remainder of this chapter will elaborate on the direct modes of instruction: direct teaching,exposition teaching, and exposition with interaction teaching. These are modes of instruction withwhich you have had much experience. I will review the more indirect modes and procedures inChapters 6 and 8 and some of the integrated direct approaches and procedures in Chapter 7.

How much time should be devoted to direct teaching and to indirect teaching at the grade level you expect to teach? Which mode of delivery do you favor? Why?

APPLY AND

REFLECT 5 .1



O N Y O U R O W N 5 . 1 View From the Classroom

Log on to the Web-based student study site at http://www.sagepub.com/eis2study. Review the Chapter 5

teacher surveys and react to the related activities.

Direct Teaching

Direct teaching, sometimes called systematic teaching or active teaching, is a teacher-centered, skill-building instructional model with the teacher being a major information provider. The teacher’s roleis to pass facts, rules, or action sequences on to students in the most direct way possible. This usuallytakes a presentation with explanations format (modified lecture), examples, and opportunities forpractice and feedback. The direct teaching format calls for teacher-student interactions involvingquestions and answers, review and practice, and the correction of student errors. The direct teachingstrategy works best with teaching skill subjects such as reading, writing, mathematics, grammar,computer literacy, and factual parts of science and history. Young children, slower learners, andstudents of all ages and abilities during the first stages of learning informative material or materialthat is difficult to learn will benefit most from direct teaching.

Different authors describe the specific elements of direct teaching differently (see Evertson,Emmer, Clements, Sanford, & Worsham, 1994; Hunter, 1995; Rosenshine & Stevens, 1986). They gen-erally agree, however, as to the sequence of events that characterize effective direct teaching lessons.First, the teacher brings students up-to-date on any skills they might need for the lesson and tellsthem what they are going to learn. Then, the teacher devotes most of the lesson time to teaching theskills or information, giving students opportunities to practice the skills or express the information,

REFLECTIONS ON TEACHER PRACTICE 5.1 Answering Questions

1. How can you encourage students to find their own answersto all questions?

2. Why is it important that teachers work on improvingstudents’ listening skills? How are listening and questioning related?

I teach sixth grade and was going home each and every daymentally wiped out because I think I answered 9,000 questions.Questions like “Should I put my name on my paper?” (Of course.)“Can I write in red pen?” (Never.) I started calling these “selfexplanatory questions” because they pertained to policy thatthey should have had under control by now—and I think someof them just liked to hear themselves talk. Anyway, I started withdiscussing strategies of how they could find answers to theirquestions before asking me—basically just wanting to work ontheir listening skills. (Hey, isn’t that a standard?!) I even went sofar as to give them each three tickets for the day—if they had aquestion to ask me (not content related) that they could havefound the answer for themselves, I took a ticket away in exchangefor an answer. Some kids didn’t even make it through first period.

As a result, I had a parent COMPLETELY flip out and callour assistant principal. She totally supported me to this

parent, but I had to write a “letter of explanation” about whyI had to use the ticket system in my classroom. I made surethat I filled it with things like “listening is a skill that willbenefit all students” and “by answering fewer self-explana-tory questions I have more time for one-on-one instructionwith students” and so forth and so on. It just made me angrythat they would even waste time questioning it. At any rate,the ticket system has worked. If students make it to theend of the day with a ticket, they get a piece of candy.Now, we have stretched it to three tickets for the week—make it to Friday and you get candy. My days go muchsmoother!

—MICHELLE, elementary teacher

SOURCE: Reprinted with permission from ProTeacher, a professionalcommunity for elementary school teachers (http://www.proteacher.net).

♦ ♦ ♦


and questioning or quizzing students to determine whether they are learning what is intended. Thegeneral lesson structure will vary in different subject areas and at different grade levels. Teachers ofolder students may take several days for each step in the process, ending with a formal test or quiz.Teachers of younger children may go through the entire process in one instructional period, usinginformal assessments at the end.

O N Y O U R O W N 5 . 2 Reflections on Teacher Practice

Read and reflect on the viewpoints expressed in Answering Questions. Log on to the Web-based student study

site at http://www.sagepub.com/eis2study and react to the related activities.

A brief description of the parts of direct teaching follows:

1. State learning objectives and orient students to the lesson. Tell students what they will learn andwhat will be expected of them. State the goals and objectives of the lesson. Establish a mental set orattitude of readiness to learn in students. This is your set induction.

2. Review prerequisites. Go over any skills or concepts students will need to understand the lesson.Provide advance organizers to give students a framework for understanding the new material.

3. Present new material. Teach the lesson, presenting information, giving concrete and variedexamples and nonexamples, demonstrating concepts, and so on. Present the material in small steps.Present an outline when material is complex.

4. Provide guided practice and conduct learning probes. Pose questions to students to assess their levelof understanding and correct their misconceptions. Give students practice problems and check for mis-conceptions and misunderstanding. Have students summarize in their own words. Reteach as necessary.

5. Provide independent practice. Give students an opportunity to practice new skills or use newinformation on their own, in seatwork, or in cooperative groups.

6. Assess performance and provide feedback. Review independent practice work or give a quiz.Give feedback on correct answers, and reteach skills as needed.

7. Provide distributed practice and review. Assign homework to provide distributed practice onthe new material.

Madeline Hunter’s “Mastery Teaching” contains many of the features of the direct teaching strat-egy and has been implemented in many parts of the country. Mastery teaching includes the followingfive steps:

1. Anticipatory set. The teacher presents a short activity to get students’ minds ready for theplanned lesson.

2. Instruction or providing information (input). Information is presented, including modeling andchecking for understanding.

3. Guided practice. Students practice new learning under direct teacher supervision.

4. Closure or checking for performance. The teacher reviews or wraps up the lesson by posingquestions for the class.

5. Independent practice. The teacher releases students to practice new materials on their own.




Keep in mind, however, that not all elements of the direct teaching strategy belong in every lesson,although they will occur in a typical unit plan composed of several lessons. Complete ExpansionActivity 5.1: Direct Instruction to explore your thoughts on the implementation of the direct instruc-tion strategy.

Let’s now look at the various components of direct instruction in more detail. Expository teaching(lecture and explanations) and questioning hold key roles in the success of direct instruction.

EXPANSION ACTIVITY 5.1 Direct Instruction

List the sequence of steps that you feel should characterize a direct instruction lesson at the grade level youexpect to teach. Is it the same as those present in this section? Why did you make the changes? Share yoursteps with several classmates. Do they agree?

Exposition Teaching

Exposition teaching is considered to be the best way to communicate large amounts of informationin a short period of time. Exposition techniques comprise the methods in which an authority—teacher, textbook, film, or microcomputer—presents information without overt interaction betweenthe authority and the students.

LectureThe lecture is probably the most widely used exposition teaching method. Virtually every teacheremploys it to some degree, and some use it almost exclusively. Though much criticized by current edu-cators, the lecture does possess some unique strengths.

Strengths of the LectureThe lecture is an excellent way of presenting background information when building a unit frame ofreference or when introducing a unit. Indeed, it often can be just the tool for setting the atmosphere orfocusing for student activities. Moreover, a short lecture can effectively wrap up a unit, an activity, ora lesson. Finally, the lecture is time-efficient; that is, planning time is devoted to organizing content,rather than to devising instructional procedure. Thus, the lecture affords the teacher ample opportu-nity to collect related materials, assemble them into a meaningful framework, and present the infor-mation to students in a relatively short period of time. The teacher simply plans a lecture for the entireinstructional period.

Weaknesses of the LectureThe lecture has several serious flaws, however. First, it is passive learning, with very low student involve-ment. Students are expected, and even encouraged, to sit quietly, listen, and perhaps take notes. Thus, itis not a good approach for helping students develop skills in thinking, problem solving, and creativity.

Second, lectures are often boring and do not motivate. For this reason—except in unusual cases—very little of a lecture is retained by students. Indeed, because lectures tend to focus on the lowest levelof cognition, understanding and transfer are often limited.

Finally, the lecture method may lead to the development of discipline problems. Most lectures gen-erate little interest, and student attention soon wanes and turns to more stimulating and often unde-sirable activities. Thus, not only does the lecture lose the attention of those involved in these


unwanted activities, but the lecture itself is often disrupted. The wise teacher should always remem-ber that most students are easily bored and usually have a low tolerance for boredom.

Textbook LectureLecturing from the textbook could well be the most common teaching method used in today’sschools. The content of such lectures usually is structured directly from the course textbook, pro-gressing from Chapter 1 to the end of the book without deviation, as illustrated in Table 5.2.

Textbook teaching requires very little teacher preparation when the structure of the textbook isstrictly followed. Indeed, when one is teaching in a content area without adequate academic prepara-tion in that area and does not wish to spend the time to become content competent, textbook teach-ing is an ideal technique. Thus, the lack of time needed for preparing lesson plans and lack of contentmastery are reasons for the popularity of this method of instruction.

Textbook teaching suffers from all the problems of lecturing, but it has a couple of unique flaws. First,the content of the course often becomes rigid; normally, no new content is added to the lecture, and thecourse content is determined entirely by an external author who is not in complete harmony with theneeds of students, the school, and the community. Second, the lectures can get extremely boring, becausethe teacher usually is lecturing about the material students were assigned to read. If no new content isadded to the lesson, students tend to either read the text or listen to the lectures—seldom both.

Planning the LecturePlanning is essential for a good lecture. Lectures must be well crafted to be clear and persuasive. Thelecture must be designed to gain—and maintain—student attention throughout the lesson, to instillmotivation, and to accomplish lesson objectives. Let’s now look at some techniques that can helpachieve these ends.

The most successful lectures should be relatively short. Even older, brighter students probablywon’t listen to a lecture for more than about 20 minutes. Therefore, limit your lectures to short


“It’s difficult to reprimand some children for inattention in class.” SOU

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periods of time and periodically change to other activities (preferably to those that require activestudent involvement). For example, the subdivisions of a lesson (with time allotted for each activity)might be as follows:

1. Overview of topic (10 minutes)*

2. Show a film (20 minutes)

3. Discussion of film (10 minutes)

4. Demonstration (5 minutes)

5. Wrap up and review (5 minutes)*

*Denotes activities where the teacher is lecturing.

Although this plan uses lecturing where appropriate, it relies on other techniques to augment thelearning—namely, discussion and demonstration. Only three tenths of the time is devoted to lectur-ing; most of the time allows for more student involvement.

In planning, give careful attention to the start of your lecture. Determine the specific objectives ofthe lecture and share them with students at the beginning. Research (Wulf & Schane, 1984) showsthat, when objectives are shared, intentional learning tends to increase. Moreover, your lecture intro-duction should arouse student interest, be motivational, and establish a framework for the lesson (seeChapter 4 for a review of these topics).

In preparing the lecture, you must decide what students are to do while you lecture. Will studentsbe asked to take notes? Will students be involved in some assigned seatwork? If yes, instructions andguidelines must be planned accordingly. Using the chalkboard and passing out written instructionsare often the best ways for establishing these guidelines.

A lecture must have closure (see Chapter 4). Once given, the lecture theme should be related to thecourse and/or to what has already been taught. This can be accomplished through a review of themajor points of the lecture.

Chapter 1 The Science of Biology

Chapter 2 The Nature of Living Matter

Chapter 3 The Beginning of Life on the Earth

Chapter 4 Units of Living Matter

Chapter 5 The Classification of Living Things

Chapter 6 The Bacteria

Chapter 7 Microbes and Disease

Chapter 8 The Seed Plants

Chapter 9 The Higher Plant Body

Chapter 10 One-Celled Animals—The Protozoa

Chapter 11 The Mammals

Chapter 12 Muscles and Their Actions

Chapter 13 Life of the Past

Chapter 14 Human Life of the Past

TA B L E 5.2 Sample Table of Contents Used in Textbook Lecturing


In summary, a good lecture must be well planned if it is to be clear and persuasive. Try followingthis good planning formula:

• Tell students what you are going to tell them.• Tell them.• Tell them what you have told them.

The proper application of this formula will result in a logical, well-organized lecture with a firmintroduction and a well-planned wrap-up.

Presenting the LectureAn effective lecture must maintain student interest and attention from beginning to end. Factors suchas the tempo, audiovisual aids, stimulus variation, and language can exert major influence on studentinterest and attention.

Tempo

The tempo, or pacing, of your lecture should be moderate (not too slow or too fast). If the pace is toofast, students become discouraged with their inability to understand and keep up; if the pace is tooslow, they become bored and look elsewhere for stimulation. Use feedback checks to ascertainwhether students understand your material and adjust your pace according to the feedback youobtain.

Instruct ional -Media Learning Tools

Visual aids should accompany all lectures. The use of the chalkboard, models, pictures, transparen-cies, diagrams, and PowerPoints can greatly enhance a lecture. Use any media that can be used to helpconvey your message; they should stimulate and maintain student interest. Indeed, make your lec-tures as multisensory as is feasible. Multisensory input will usually result in better learning.

When appropriate, teach students to take notes. A good lecturer, for example, outlines the majorpoints on the chalkboard or on an overhead projector. Such outlines provide students with the struc-ture and time needed for developing their note-taking skills. Once students have become skilled notetakers, the practice of supplying an outline can be discontinued.

St imulus Var iat ion

As you plan your lecture, create an introduction that will grab students’ attention and augment yourlecture with actions that will maintain this attention. Stimulus variation techniques, such as ges-tures, pauses, and teacher movement, can help keep student attention directed toward your lecture. Asstudent attention wanders, a tap on the board, a hand gesture, sudden silence (a pause), or physicalmovement often will refocus attention back to your lecture.

Enthusiasm is contagious. If you express a high level of interest and sense of importance about yourtopic, students often become spellbound, anxious to find out what is so interesting. But be a bit careful:Too much enthusiasm can direct attention toward you, the teacher—and away from the lecture topic.

Humor and rhetorical questions can also attract and keep student attention. Humor can helpreduce anxiety, whereas rhetorical questions, used in conjunction with pauses, give students theopportunity to consider and think about the information presented.

Finally, eye contact can help maintain attention. Eye contact gives students the feeling that you areaddressing each of them personally. Indeed, eye contact can provide a teacher with valuable feedback onhow well a lecture is being received. Look at your students; glance around and move about the room,based upon what you see.




Voice and Language

Delivery can make the difference between a boring lecture and a stimulating one. Keep your voicelow-pitched, be expressive, and make sure all students can hear. Your voice can bring words to life.Voice volume, rate, tone, inflection, and pitch can all communicate valuable information.

Deliver your lectures in Standard English, and use vocabulary that students will understand. Thatis, don’t talk over your students’ heads. Also, avoid using slang expressions and street language in yourlectures. Such language will only confuse your students.

Balancing the LectureLecturing to students is inevitable for most teachers; however, it should be used sparingly, especiallywith younger students, and mixed with other appropriate methods. For example, a teacher could fol-low up a short lecture by having students complete a worksheet, by conducting a small-group discus-sion, or by asking students to conduct an investigation.

Indeed, a lesson or 50-minute class period can often be divided into a number of short lectures,with a distinct change in modality between lectures. These changes retain students’ attention andhold their interest for the instructional period. Above all, adjust your lecture time and style to students’attention span. Break up your lecture with other methods and activities. Devise a questioning sequence,give students a problem to solve, or give students a short break.

The use of

instructional

materials and media

enhances most

lectures and

stimulates student

interest.

Lectures can be boring. How have your past teachers who used the lecture method madethem more interesting? If you plan to use the lecture method extensively, how will youkeep your students interested and involved?

APPLY AND

REFLECT 5 .2

Variants of the LectureLet’s now examine some of the commonly used variants of the lecture. Two such variants are the tel-electure and prerecorded lecture.


Te le lecture

Normally, the lecturer and students are in the same room. In some rural areas, however, an insuffi-cient number of students needing or desiring a course in one district may not warrant the hiring of ateacher for that course. Through technology, however, it is possible for several districts to “hire” aneeded teacher and to transmit lectures from a studio classroom to other locations by means of tele-phone, cable, or microwave. This telelecture enables students who are not in the immediate class-room to hear the lectures. The remote students may talk to the lecturer and ask questions by means ofa telephone link. Special science, mathematics, and language courses are being taught in this manneracross the nation.

Prerecorded Lecture

A lecture is easily captured on tape or film. Such tapes and films often are prepared by local schooldistricts and by commercial publishers. Prerecorded lectures, however, have several disadvantageswhen compared with live lectures. First, and perhaps most important, there is no direct contactbetween students and lecturer; no minute-by-minute adjustments can be made based on feedbackand questions. In addition, student attention becomes a major problem when the lecture is on tape orfilm; attention lags more quickly than when a person is actually present. Finally, tapes and filmsquickly become obsolete as new information is gleaned regarding content and teaching techniques.

Despite the flaws, prerecorded lectures have some merits. Most important is their capacity forindividualized instruction because a tape or film can be played as many times as desirable. I willaddress individualization of instruction in greater detail in the next chapter.

Table 5.3 summarizes the different direct teaching and the exposition teaching methods. Reviewthe summary and complete Review and Reflective Exercise 5.1.

Exposition With Interaction Teaching

Exposition with interaction teaching is a method of teaching in which an authority presents infor-mation and follows it up with questioning that determines whether that information has been under-stood. Essentially, this method is a two-phase technique: First, information is disseminated by theteacher or through students’ study of written material. Second, the teacher checks for comprehensionby asking questions to assess student understanding of the material explained or studied.


For materialrelated to thisconcept, go to Clip 5.2 on the StudentResource CDbound into theback of yourtextbook.

Method Description

Direct teaching Teacher controls instruction by presenting information and giving directions to the class;

associated with teacher-centered, teacher-controlled classrooms; an instructional procedure

for teaching content in the most efficient, straightforward way

Lecture Teacher presents information, with no overt interaction with students

Telelecture Lecture transmitted from central-studio classroom to distant classrooms

Textbook lecture Lecturing directly about material presented in the textbook

Prerecorded lecture Lecture that has been recorded on videotape or film

TA B L E 5.3 Exposition Teaching



Lectures need not be

passive learning. They

can be made

stimulating.

The comprehension monitoring phase of this teaching technique requires that the teacher beknowledgeable and an effective questioner. Because questioning is so essential to the overall successof exposition with interaction, let’s first analyze this important skill in some detail.

The Art of QuestioningProper questioning is a sophisticated art at which many of us are less than proficient even though wehave asked thousands of questions in our lives. Research indicates that questioning is second only to lec-turing in popularity as a teaching method. Teachers spend anywhere from 35% to 50% of their instruc-tional time conducting questioning sessions. Teachers ask questions for a variety of purposes, including

• To develop interest and motivate students• To evaluate students’ preparation and check on homework• To develop critical thinking skills• To review and summarize previous lessons• To assess achievement of objectives

Questioning is an important part of the teaching-learning process because it enables teachersand students to establish what is already known, to use and extend this knowledge, and then todevelop new ideas. It also provides a structure to examine ideas and information. Questioning isimportant to developing reflective and metacognitive thinking. It requires students to reflecton their understandings and can lead to changes and improvements in learning, thinking, andteaching.

Good questioners must be skilled in formulating good questions: Questions must be asked at theappropriate level, they must be of the appropriate type, and, above all, they must be worded properly.Moreover, the art of questioning requires mastery of techniques for follow-up to students’responses—or lack of response—to questioning. The kinds of questions asked, the way they areasked, and the responses given affect both the self-esteem of the students and their participation. Let’snow look at the different levels at which questions may be asked.



Do you think questions can be used effectively to promote learning? How?APPLY AND

REFLECT 5 .3

Levels of QuestionsQuestions may be categorized as being “narrow” or “broad.” Narrow questions usually ask for only factualrecall or specific correct answers, whereas broad questions seldom can be answered with a single word.Moreover, broad questions do not have one correct answer and call on students to reach beyond simplememory. Broad questions prompt students to use the thinking process in formulating answers. Both nar-row and broad questions contribute to the learning process. Too often, however, teachers rely too heavily onnarrow questions when learning would be greatly enhanced through the use of both types of questions.

You must adapt the level of your questions to the purpose for which they are being asked.Consequently, ask questions that reveal whether students have gained specific knowledge, as well asquestions that stimulate the thinking process. Because thinking can take place at several levels ofsophistication, it is important that you as a teacher be able to classify—and ask—questions at thesedifferent levels.

Many effective classification systems have been developed for describing the levels of questions.Most of these systems are useful only to the extent that they can provide a framework for formulatingquestions at the desired level within a classroom environment. Consequently, some teachers may wantto use only a two-level classification system, whereas others may want to use a more detailed system.

This discussion will focus on two systems that will be of most benefit to you as a classroomteacher. The first widely used system classifies questions as either convergent or divergent; the secondcategorizes questions according to the mental operation students use in answering them. These twoclassification systems are only two of the many systems to which you can refer in your classroom.When you prepare questions, however, evaluate them according to some classification system. By sodoing, you will significantly improve the quality of your questions.

Convergent and Divergent Quest ions

One of the simplest and easiest ways of classifying questions is to determine whether they are con-vergent or divergent. Convergent questions allow for only a few right responses, whereas divergentquestions allow for many correct responses.

Questions regarding concrete facts that have been learned and committed to memory are conver-gent. Most who, what, and where questions are also classified as convergent:

REVIEW AND REFLECTIVE EXERCISE 5 .1 Describe direct teaching and thelecture method.

REVIEW

• What are the strengths and weaknesses of direct teaching and the lecture method?

• How can you make the lecture method more effective?

REFLECTION

• Reflect on the teaching methods used by your past teachers. Did they use direct teaching? The lecture method?Was it effective?

• Do you plan on using direct teaching or the lecture method in the area you expect to teach? How will you makethem effective?



“What is 2 + 2?”

“Who was the 25th president of the United States?”

“What type of equation is x2 + 3x + 3 = 0?”

“Where is Stratford-upon-Avon located?”

“What was the major cause of the Great Depression?”

Convergent questions may also require students to recall and integrate or analyze information fordetermining one expected correct answer. Thus, the following questions would also be classified asconvergent:

“Based on our discussion, what is the major cause of water pollution?”

“By combining the formulas for a triangle and a rectangle, what would be the formula for findingthe area of a trapezoid?”

“Based on our definition of a noun, can you name three nouns?”

Most alternate-response questions, such as yes/no and true/false questions, would also be classi-fied as convergent because the responses available to students are limited.

“Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who’s the most sensitive,

open, student-centered, and innovative teacher of all?” SOU

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Conversely, questions calling for opinions, hypotheses, or evaluation are divergent in that manypossible correct responses may be given:

“Why do you suppose we entered World War II?”

“What would be a good name for this painting?”

“Can you give me a sentence in which this word is used correctly?”

“Why is it important that we speak correctly?”

Divergent questions should be used frequently because they encourage broader responses and,therefore, are more likely to engage students in the learning process. They prompt students to think.Convergent questions, however, are equally important in that they deal with the background informa-tion needed in dealing with divergent questions. In the classroom, it is generally desirable to use con-vergent questions initially and then move toward divergent questions.

Mental Operat ion Quest ions

Based on the work of J. P. Guilford and Benjamin Bloom, Moore (2001) developed the Mental Operationsystem for classifying questions. Table 5.4 shows the relationship between the Mental Operation system,Guilford’s Structure of the Intellect model, and Bloom’s Taxonomy. The Mental Operation system is basi-cally a four-category system that combines the cognitive and memory categories of the Guilford modelinto a single factual category. In addition, it combines four of Bloom’s categories of higher order thinkinginto two categories (see Chapter 3). The categories of questions that make up the Mental Operation modelare factual, empirical, productive, and evaluative.

Factual questions test the student’s recall or recognition of information learned by rote. That is, ittests the student’s recall or recognition of information that has been committed to memory throughsome form of repetition or rehearsal. Some examples of factual questions are listed here:

“Who drilled the first oil well?”

“Joe, can you define the short story?”

“Which of these is the chemical formula for salt?”

“What is the formula for the volume of a cylinder?”

Empirical questions require that students integrate or analyze remembered or given informationand supply a single, correct predictable answer. Indeed, the question may call for quite a lot of think-ing, but, once thought out, the answer is usually a single, correct answer. Empirical questions are alsonarrow questions. Some examples of empirical questions include the following:

“Based on our study of California, what conditions led to its becoming a state?”

“Given that this circle has a radius of 5 centimeters, what is its area?”

“According to the information provided in the text, what is the most economical source of energypresently being used in the United States?”

“Which of these two forms of government is most like the British?”

Note that when answering these questions, students must recall learned information and carry outa mental activity with that information to arrive at the correct answer. There is, however, only one cor-rect, predictable answer.



Productive questions do not have a single, correct answer, and it may be impossible to predictwhat the answer will be. Productive questions are open-ended and call for students to use their imag-inations and think creatively. These questions ask students to develop a unique idea. Although thebroad nature of productive questions prompts students to go beyond the simple recall of rememberedinformation, students still need the basic related information to answer them. Following are someexamples of productive questions:

“How can we improve our understanding and use of English?”

“What changes would we see in society if we were to eliminate unemployment in the world?”

“What are some possible solutions to the problem of world hunger?”

“What do you suppose the painter’s intent was in this painting?”

Finally, evaluative questions require that students put a value on something or make some kindof judgment. Evaluative questions are special cases of productive questions in that they, too, are oftenopen-ended. They can, however, be more difficult to answer than are productive questions in thatsome internal or external criteria must be used; that is, some criteria must be established for makingthe judgment. The responses to evaluative questions can often be predicted or limited by the numberof choices. For example, the question “Which of these two short stories is the best?” limits theresponses to two, whereas the question “What is the best automobile made today?” allows a variety ofresponses. Other examples of evaluative questions are these:

“Who was our greatest scientist?”

“How would you rate our success in controlling government spending in this nation?”

“Do you think the author of the play developed the characters sufficiently?”

“Are Native Americans portrayed accurately in the movies?”

These questions call on students to make judgments based on internal criteria. When studentresponses are formally evaluated and bear directly on grades, however, you must establish evaluativecriteria. The alternative is to rely on students’ internalized criteria, which you cannot evaluate, confirm,or refute. You can establish evaluative criteria for your evaluative questions by following them up withan empirical or a productive question that asks for the reasons behind the stated judgment or value orby making sure you develop and ask evaluative questions in a way that includes external criteria.

Use of the Mental Operation system of classifying questions (Table 5.5) should give you the neededframework for improving your questioning skill. You should be asking questions at all four levels of

Mental Operation Questions Guilford’s Structure of the Intellect Bloom’s Taxonomy

1. Factual Cognitive/memory Knowledge/comprehension

2. Empirical Convergent thinking Application/analysis

3. Productive Divergent thinking Synthesis

4. Evaluative Evaluative thinking Evaluation

TA B L E 5.4 Categories of Questions



the system, instead of at the factual level only, as many teachers do. To this end, you should plan andask more productive and evaluative questions than is commonly done by teachers. These questionswill give your students the opportunity to think and reason.

Think back to your most recent class. What kinds of questions did your professor ask? What sort of thinking is required?

APPLY AND

REFLECT 5 .4

Types of QuestionsAs an effective teacher, you must ask the right types of questions. That is, you must adapt the type ofquestion to the specific purpose for which you are asking the question. For example, you may want toask questions to determine the level of your students’ study, to increase student involvement andinteraction, to increase clarification, or to stimulate student awareness. These purposes call for differ-ent types of questions.

Focus ing Quest ions

Focusing questions, which may be factual, empirical, productive, or evaluative, are used to directstudent attention. Focusing questions can determine what has been learned by students, can motivateand arouse student interest at the start of a lesson or during the lesson, can stimulate involvement andcheck understanding during a lesson, and can check students’ understanding of lesson material at theclose of a lesson.

Was the assigned chapter read by students? No use discussing the material if it wasn’t read! Did thestudents learn and understand the material assigned? Can students apply the information? Focusing

Category Type of Thinking Examples

Factual Student simply recalls information “Define . . .”

“Who was . . .”

“What did the text say . . .”

Empirical Student integrates and analyzes given or “Compare . . .”

recalled information

“Explain in your own words . . .”

“Calculate the . . .”

Productive Student thinks creatively and imaginatively “What will life be like . . .”

and produces unique idea or response

“What’s a good name for . . .”

“How could we . . .”

Evaluative Student makes judgments or expresses values “Which painting is best?”

“Why do you favor this . . .”

“Who is the best . . .”

TA B L E 5.5 Levels of Classroom Questions



questions can provide valuable information regarding these concerns. Ask factual questions to checkon basic knowledge at the beginning of or during a lesson. Use empirical questions to have studentsfigure out correct solutions for problems related to assignments or issues being discussed. Pose pro-ductive and evaluative questions for motivating and stimulating thinking and interest in the topic.

When opening a lesson or discussion with a question, it is good practice to use a productive orevaluative question that focuses on the upcoming topic. The question should be such that it arousesstudents’ interest and thinking:

“What do you suppose would happen if I were to drop these two objects at the same time?”

“How could we test the hypothesis suggested by the results?”

“Should we do away with the income tax in the United States?”

These questions should then be followed with questions at all levels to develop understanding andto maintain interest.

Prompt ing Quest ions

What should you do when a student fails to answer a question? Most teachers answer the questionthemselves or move on to another student. This technique will get your question answered, but it failsto involve the original student in the discussion. Rather, it leaves that student with a sense of failure,which, more than likely, will result in even less participation in the future. A better way to address thisproblem is to use a prompting question as a follow-up to the unanswered question.

Prompting questions use clues that help students answer questions or correct initially inaccurateresponses. Thus, a prompting question is usually a rewording of the original question—with cluesadded. Consider this example of a prompting questioning sequence:

Teacher: What is x2 times x3, Pat?

Pat: I don’t know.

Questions can often

give a lesson life and

arouse student

interest.


Teacher: Well, let’s see if we can figure it out. What do we do with the exponents when we multiplyvariables?

Pat: Multiply?

Teacher: No.

Pat: Add!

Teacher: Right! So, if we add 2 + 3, what will our answer be?

Pat: [Pause] 5.

Teacher: So what would x2 times x3 be?

Pat: x5.

Teacher: Very good, Pat.

Your use of prompting questions with students should lead to a sense of success when they finallyanswer correctly. Indeed, the successes could even act as reinforcers to students, which result in evengreater participation.

Probing Quest ions

Up to this point I have discussed focusing questions and prompting questions. The former can be usedfor determining the level of learning and understanding and for increasing student participation,whereas the latter can be used when no response to a question is forthcoming. Another situation withwhich a teacher must contend occurs when the student’s response is incorrect or correct yet insufficientbecause it lacks depth. In such cases, you should have the student correct the mistake or ask that he or shesupply the additional needed information. This is accomplished through the use of probing questions.

Probing questions aim at correcting, improving, or expanding a student’s initial response. Theycompel the student to think more thoroughly about the initial response. Probing questions can beused for correcting an initial response, eliciting clarification, developing critical awareness, or refo-cusing a response.

You may want to ask a probing question for the purpose of clarification. Students sometimes giveflimsily thought-out answers or give only half-answers to questions. These responses should be fol-lowed up with probing questions that force the student to think more thoroughly and urge him or herto firm up the response. Here are examples of such probing questions:

“What are you saying?”

“What do you mean by the terms . . . ?”

“Would you say that in another way?”

“Could you elaborate on those two points?”

“Can you explain that point more fully? It lacks clarity.”

You sometimes may want students to justify their answers; that is, you may want to foster theircritical awareness. This also can be accomplished with probing questions. Probing questions thatcould be used to develop critical awareness include these:

“What is your factual basis for these beliefs?”

“Why do you believe that?”

“What are you assuming when you make that statement?”




“What are your reasons for those assumptions?”

“Are you sure there isn’t more evidence to support that issue?”

Finally, you may want to probe to refocus a correct, satisfactory student response to a related issue.Examples of questions that could serve this function follow:

“Let’s look at your answer with respect to this new information.”

“Can you relate your answer to yesterday’s discussion?”

“What implications does this conclusion have for . . . ?”

“Apply these solutions to . . .”

“Can you relate Mary’s earlier answer to this issue?”

The different types of questions will be invaluable to you as a teaching tool. When used effectively,they can increase student participation and involve students in their own learning. You should prac-tice these different questions and become proficient in their use.

Questioning TechniquesCertain techniques associated with asking questions tend to increase the quantity of and enhance thequality of the students’ responses. Let’s now look at four such techniques.

Redirect ing

Redirecting is a technique that is useful for increasing the amount of student participation. It allowsyou to draw students into a discussion by asking them to respond to a question in light of a previousresponse from another student. Because this technique requires several correct responses to a singlequestion, the question asked must be divergent, productive, or evaluative. The following is an exampleof how you might redirect a question:

Teacher: We have now studied the administrations of several presidents. Which president do youthink made the greatest contribution?

[Pause. Several hands go up.] Cindi?

Cindi: Lincoln.

Teacher: Jeff?

Jeff: Washington.

Teacher: Mary, what is your opinion?

Mary: John Kennedy.

You should note that, if you are using redirecting correctly, you do not react to the studentresponses. You simply redirect the question to another student. Thus, it is hoped that this techniquewill lead to greater student participation and involvement and, consequently, to greater learning andincreased interest.

You can use focusing, prompting, and probing questions to determine what has beenlearned, to arouse interest, and to stimulate involvement. Are these different question types more effective at specific grade levels? If so, what grade level?

APPLY AND

REFLECT 5 .5


The redirecting technique can also be used effectively with students who are nonvolunteers. Youshould try to involve these nonvolunteers as much as possible because, as noted earlier, participationenhances learning and stimulates interest.

It is important to remember, however, that nonvolunteers should never be forced to answer;rather, they should be given the opportunity to contribute to the discussion. In addition, you shouldgive nonvolunteers ample time to consider a response. This time needed for students in consider-ing their responses to questions is referred to as wait time. Let’s now look at the appropriate use ofwait time in questioning.

Wait T ime

Students need time for thinking and pondering the responses they will give to your questions.Research by Rowe (1974a, 1974b, 1978), however, has shown that teachers on the average wait onlyabout 1 second for students to give an answer. Rowe’s research also revealed that, when teacherslearned to increase wait time from 3 to 5 seconds, the following results occurred:

1. Student response time increased.

2. Failure to respond tended to decrease.

3. Students asked more questions.

4. Unsolicited responses tended to increase.

5. Student confidence increased.

Basically, there are two types of wait time. Wait time 1 is the time provided for the first studentresponse to a question. Wait time 2 is the total time a teacher waits for all students to respond to thesame question or for students to respond to each other’s response to a question. Wait time 2 mayinvolve several minutes. If you are to engage students more in your lessons, you must learn to increaseyour wait time tolerance so students have more opportunities to think and to ponder their answers.

The typical pattern of questioning in the average classroom can be depicted as follows:

Teacher———————————-> Student ATeacher———————————-> Student BTeacher———————————-> Student C

This pattern represents nothing more than a question-and-answer period. The teacher asks a ques-tion of a student, the student answers, the teacher moves to the next student and asks a question, thestudent answers, the teacher moves to the next student, and so on. Students often receive little time forthinking and expressing themselves and usually no time for reacting to each other’s comments. In fact,most of the questions are typically at the lower level. Appropriate use of questioning techniques, higherlevel questions, and wait time can and should change this sequence to the following:


For materialrelated to thisconcept, go to Clip 5.3 on theStudentResource CDbound into theback of yourtextbook.

Student

Student

Student Student

Student

Student

Teacher



This pattern facilitates student discussion, welcomes extended responses, and providesopportunities for commenting on other students’ questions and for asking questions. There isreal involvement! Indeed, you will find that extending the time you wait after a question from 3to 5 seconds—and giving students time to react to your questions and other students’responses—is well worth the added effort.

Halt ing T ime

When presenting complex material, you need to learn to halt in what you are saying and give studentstime to think. This pause is referred to as halting time. No questions are asked, and no student com-ments are elicited. In using the halting time technique, you present some complex material or compli-cated directions and then stop momentarily so students have time to consider the information orcarry out the directions. During this pause, you visually check with the class to see whether they arewith you and understand what you are trying to communicate. If your observations are positive, youcontinue. If students appear to be confused, you may want to redo the explanation or directions.

Reinforcement

Once you have asked a question and have received an acceptable response, you must react to theresponse. Should you merely accept the response without comment and continue with the lesson orshould you offer praise for a job well done? Your reinforcement—that is, your pattern of positivereaction—will have a powerful effect on the direction of the interaction in the classroom.

Rewards and praise often encourage students to participate. Phrases such as “Fine answer,” “Great,”“What an outstanding idea,” and “Super” may be used when rewarding students’ correct answers.

Reinforcement is often a good idea, but the too-frequent application of reinforcement can negatethe benefits of using wait time. If reinforcement is given too early in an answering sequence, otherstudents may decide not to respond because they fear their answer could not match an earlierresponse. After all, didn’t you say the earlier response was “great”? Rather than give reinforcementearly in the questioning-answering sequence, you should allow as many students as possible torespond to the question, then reinforce all of them for their contributions. You can always return to thebest answer for further comment.

You can keep students focused on your lesson through the use of the redirecting technique, wait time, halting time, and reinforcement. Have your past teachers used these techniques? Were they effective? Why or why not?

APPLY AND

REFLECT 5 .6

Tips on QuestioningAsking good questions is an art. It is an art, however, that can be mastered with practice. Theimproper use of questioning can negatively affect learning. Teachers who strive for higher level ques-tions, for example, may lose interest in the just as important bread-and-butter memory questions.They may even tend to cater to the capacities of superior students. Let’s now look at some questioningtips that may prove helpful in avoiding questioning pitfalls.

Questions should be clear, and you should ask the question before designating who is to answer.Ask the question, wait for the class to think about it, and then specify an individual to answer. Asusual, there are exceptions to this rule. When you call on an inattentive student, it is often wise to des-ignate the individual first, so that the student is sure to hear the question. Similarly, you should call thename first of slow or shy students so that they can prepare themselves.


Distribute your questions about the class fairly. Avoid directing all questions to a selective fewbright students. Also avoid using a mechanical system for asking questions because students sooncatch on to such systems—such as going by alphabetical order or row by row—and they will payattention only when it is their turn.

Do not ask more than one question at a time. Asking too many questions at once often confusesstudents. Simultaneous questions permit no time to think, and when several questions are asked,students are not sure which question to answer first.

Do not ask too many questions. Often, you need to establish a knowledge base before initiating aquestioning sequence. This is especially true when the questions require thinking and reasoning.

Ask questions at all ability levels in the class. Some questions should be easy, whereas others shouldbe more difficult. Also, use questions to help students modify their inaccurate responses. Use promptingand probing questions to help students think more thoroughly about their responses. This approach willincrease involvement, will develop better thinking skills, and will reinforce student successes.

Finally, listen carefully to student responses. Wait at least 3 seconds following a student response.This allows the student time for making further comments and gives other students time to react tothe initial student’s response.

The key to the effective use of exposition with interaction is good questioning. Therefore, you mustrefine your ability to think, plan, and ask questions throughout your lessons. Let’s now look at somemethods that contain many of the features of the exposition and exposition with interaction strategies.


How can being asked a question be viewed as punishment for some students and reward for others?

APPLY AND

REFLECT 5 .8

Lecture Recitation

Lecture recitation is an instructional method in which the teacher presents information by tellingand explaining and follows up with question-and-answer sessions at periodical intervals. Thus,questions are used for summarizing the content of the lecture and for helping students consolidateand organize the presented information.

The lecture recitation method is often efficient in terms of time, flexibility, and learning whileactively involving students in the lesson. Its basic structure of teacher talk/teacher question/studentresponse/teacher talk makes questioning the key component to the method. Moreover, this method ishighly adaptable to a large variety of topics and frequently is used as a companion to the lecturemethod or to the study of a textbook. Indeed, it is a form of recitation.

A hybrid form of the lecture recitation method, in which questions are interspersed throughout thelecture, has proven to be the most popular among classroom teachers (Goodlad, 1984). When proper lec-turing is executed and when questions are strategically used, this method is an effective and efficient wayof teaching content. That is, the questions can and should be designed to provide feedback on under-standing, to add variety to the lecture, and to maintain the students’ attention. Moreover, questions fromstudents can also help clarify the content and shed light on how well the lecture is being understood.

Do you consider effective questioning an art? What are your strengths and weaknessesas a questioner? What types and levels of questions will be the most useful to you as aclassroom teacher?

APPLY AND

REFLECT 5 .7



Textbook Recitation

The textbook recitation method is relatively simple: You assign students content to read and study intheir textbook and then question them on what they have read and studied. Textbook recitation is aneffective technique for teaching basic information simply because students are often motivated to readand study the assignment in anticipation of being called on to recite the information. However, thismethod does not foster true understanding and the application of the assigned content.

On the other hand, textbook recitation has the added advantages of giving students feedback on theaccuracy of the content learned and of providing them with the opportunity to learn from the repliesof fellow students. Indeed, these ends can be accomplished by planning higher level questions inadvance, with an emphasis on questioning sequences that will develop thinking and reasoning skills.

The various direct instruction models have strengths and weaknesses. Complete Web Link 5.1:Direct Instruction to explore some of these strengths and weaknesses.

W E B L I N K 5 . 1 Direct Instruction

Choose one of the direct instruction models found in this section and do an Internet search relative to the

strengths and weaknesses of the model. Share the results with your class.

You must make sure a knowledge base has been established prior to questioning. How can this knowledge base be established?

APPLY AND

REFLECT 5 .9

REFLECTIONS ON TEACHER PRACTICE 5.2 Motivating Students to Read

1. Why should reading be an important part of thecurriculum in all subject areas?

2. How can students be motivated to read?

I go to the public library every three weeks and check out highinterest picture books that center around whatever I am currentlyteaching, picture books that are nonfiction, for the most part, andappropriate for middle school students. Lots of DK books, ScienceEncyclopedias, all-in-one volumes, and Seymour books. They sitin a laundry basket at the front of my room as resources to read.

Here’s my one tip that I have used and found wildly success-ful. Every once in a while, we do a science “read around day.” Onthat day, I take those books from the basket and put them in themiddle of the lab tables. When I say, “go”! They have to select abook and read until I say stop. Usually it’s about 3–4 minutes.Then they send their book to the next person. This continuesuntil all four people have read the books at that table.

They don’t have to start at the beginning; they can just lookat pictures, or use the index to find something that intereststhem. From here each table interviews each person on what they

learned, or what they liked. From here we switch that pile ofbooks with another table and continue with the process.

They love it, and they hate it. They want to read more of at leastone book and they can’t because it has rotated around. Well, let metell you, books fly out of the basket in extra time before class, or ifthey finish early. The afterglow only last a couple of days, but itworks. And sometimes, oh how I love those sometimes, someonewill ask to have a library pass so they can go see if that book is in ourlibrary or if the media specialist can help them interlibrary loan it.

That’s what I’ve tried in science. Now math, well, that’sanother story. I’m still working on it—mostly working to findread-alouds beyond the standards.

—MARSHA, middle-level teacher

SOURCE: www.middleweb.com. Reprinted with permission.

♦ ♦ ♦



O N Y O U R O W N 5 . 3 Reflections on Teacher Practice

Read and reflect on the viewpoints expressed in Motivating Students to Read. Log on to the Web-based

student study site at http://www.sagepub.com/eis2study and react to the related activities.

This concludes our discussion of various direct teaching methods. Apply the concepts developedin this chapter in Expansion Activity: Direct Instruction Application.

Table 5.6 gives a review of the direct teaching methods. Review the table and complete Review andReflective Exercise 5.2.

EXPANSION ACTIVITY 5.2 Direct Instruction Application

Teachers work hard and spend a lot of time and effort developing plans, activities, and instructional resourcesto maximize learning. However, sometimes learning is limited. Create a two-column chart of the directinstructional strategies covered in Chapter 5 and indicate your feelings as to the value of each strategy at thegrade level you expect to teach. Use the following three categories to evaluate each strategy for your chart:(1) appropriate and useful, (2) limited usefulness, and (3) not appropriate and not useful.

Method Description

Lecture Recitation Teacher presents information and follows up with questions

Textbook Recitation Students are assigned content to read and study and are later questioned over information

TA B L E 5.6 Exposition With Interaction Teaching

REVIEW AND REFLECTIVE EXERCISE 5.2 Describe the effective use of questioningin the classroom.

REVIEW

• Describe the exposition with interaction instructional method of teaching. What are the strengths and weaknessesof this instructional approach?

• Why is questioning an art?

• Describe two questioning classification systems.

• Describe the different types of questions.

REFLECTION

• Do you consider yourself a good questioner? How can you improve your skills?

• Should teachers use a question classification system? Why? What system do you plan to use in the area youexpect to teach?


SUMMARYThere are two basic approaches to teaching: direct and indirect.

Direct Teaching� Direct teaching is a teacher-centered skill-building model.

Exposition Teaching� Exposition teaching offers an effective way to convey a great deal of information in a short

period of time.

Exposition With Interaction Teaching� Exposition with interaction teaching is often more effective than exposition teaching.

� The key to exposition with interaction teaching is questioning. Asking good questions is anart that is essential to the lecture recitation and textbook recitation methods.

� The recall of information requires the use of narrow questions (convergent) while the desire tostimulate thinking and reasoning calls for the use of broad questions (divergent).

� The Mental Operation question system categorized questions as factual, empirical,productive, or evaluative.

� Focusing, prompting, and probing questions can be used to arouse interest and increase involvement.

� Redirecting questions, using wait time and halting time, and using reinforcement canenhance questioning skills.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS AND ACTIVITIES

1. Direct instruction. What aspects of direct instruction might explain its success?

2. Strategy selection. You have been assigned a new class to teach. This class consists largely ofslow learners. The class is restless, not interested, and hard to manage. What teachingstrategies and methods would be best to use with this class if it were the following? Give avalid rationale for your selection.a. A 3rd-grade classb. A 6th-grade middle school classc. A 10th-grade social studies class

3. The lecture method. When would it be appropriate to use the lecture method? Consider objectivesand purpose. How would one plan an effective lecture? Consider motivation, length, aids, clarity,and interest. How could you tell whether a lecture has been successful?

4. Preparing questions. Prepare examples for each level within the following question categories.a. Convergent and divergentb. Mental Operation system

5. Textbook questions. Obtain the teacher’s edition of a textbook for a subject you expect toteach. Analyze the questions contained in the text. What levels and types of questions are mostfrequently suggested?

TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION

The quality of instruction can be improved through the use of technology. How would you use technology toimprove direct instruction at the grade level you expect to teach? You might want to access the followingInternet URL Web sites for ideas: http://www.teachnology.com, http://www.edzone.net/~mwestern,http://wtvi.com/teks, http://www.lessonplanspage.com, and http://www.eduref.org/Virtual/Lessons/index.shtml. Form groups of four or five to share ideas. Share your group’s ideas with the class.


DECONSTRUCTING THE STANDARDS

Chapter 5 content addresses topics related to INTASC Standards 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7.

♦ INTASC Standard 1 states: Knowledge of Subject Matter: The teacher understands the cen-tral concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures of the subject being taught and can createlearning experiences that make these aspects of subject matter meaningful for students.

♦ INTASC Standard 2 states: Knowledge of Human Development and Learning: The teacherunderstands how children learn and develop and can provide learning opportunities thatsupport their intellectual, social, and personal development.

♦ INTASC Standard 3 states: Adapting Instruction for Individual Needs: The teacher under-stands how students differ in their approaches to learning and creates instructional oppor-tunities that are adapted to diverse learners.

♦ INTASC Standard 4 states: Multiple Instructional Strategies: The teacher uses variousinstructional strategies to encourage students’ development of critical thinking, problemsolving, and performance skills.

♦ INTASC Standard 6 states: Communication Skills: The teacher uses knowledge of effectiveverbal, nonverbal, and media communication techniques to foster active inquiry, collabo-ration, and supportive interaction in the classroom.

♦ INTASC Standard 7 states: Instructional Planning Skills: The teacher plans instructionbased on knowledge of subject mater, students, the community, and curriculum goals.

For each of these six standards, write your response to the following:

• Which part(s) of each standard does this chapter address?• How does this chapter address this standard?• How will the concepts in this chapter help you apply this standard as a teacher?

PRAXIS CONNECTION

Log on to the Web-based student study site at http://www.sagepub.com/eis2study. Access thePraxis II: Principles of Learning and Teaching assessments and/or state-related exams andcomplete the Chapter 5 test preparation exercises.

PORTFOLIO CONNECTION

Log on to the Web-based student study site at http://www.sagepub.com/eis2study. Access thePortfolio Connection. Complete the Chapter 5 portfolio link to INTASC activities.

CONNECTION WITH THE FIELD

1. Questioning in the classroom. Attend a class in a public school or college classroom. Keep atally of the levels of questions, as well as types of questions, used by the instructor. Did yousee any patterns? What other questioning techniques did you observe? Were they successful?Why, or why not?

2. Teaching. Prepare and teach a minilesson using a direct methods approach. Use theminiteaching guidelines and forms in Appendix A to plan and analyze your minilesson.

3. Teaching analysis. Make a videotape of your miniteaching lesson; then critically analyze itwith your peers.


CHAPTER 5 - Corwin

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